Into the Night by Chasity Bowlin

Author:Chasity Bowlin [Bowlin, Chasity]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2022-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

It was with a heavy heart and leaden feet that Clara stepped over the threshold of The Ancient Ram Inn once more. The vicar and his wife had treated them to tea and scones in their drawing room and been artificially jovial. Prior to their leaving, the vicar had placed something in Simon’s hand and offered him well wishes that sounded an awful lot like a final farewell.

“It doesn’t seem nearly so dreadful during daylight hours,” she mused. It wasn’t true, of course. It was as horrid as ever. But she was trying so very hard to remain cheerful.

“Liar,” Simon murmured, so low that only she could hear.

There weren’t any patrons about to eavesdrop on their conversation, but there was an older man behind the bar.

“Good morning, sir and madam,” he said, inclining his head. His hair was completely white and all of it seemed to defy taming. It was as if each individual hair seemed determined to go in a completely different direction from any of its neighbors.

“Good morning, sir,” Simon replied. “We’ll be needing our rooms… er, room, for another night.”

“Another night you say?” the man asked, clearly puzzled. “How did you come to have a room here last night when the inn was closed?”

“Closed?” Clara asked. “But there was a gentleman here who served us ale and bread. He gave me the room upstairs and put Mr. Ravenau in the room just there behind the bar.”

The man’s expression tightened, becoming completely inscrutable. “Och, well, it makes no matter, now does it? You said you’ll only be needing the one room now? This is a respectable establishment. I’ll not be having any sort of fast behavior under my roof!”

“We were married this morning,” Simon explained. “You may check with the vicar if you like.”

The man nodded. “Well, I suppose I can trust you that far. I’ll be giving you the room behind the bar again. Only one with a bed big enough for two.”

Clara couldn’t stop the heated blush that crept over her cheeks. She stepped away from Simon as he paid the innkeeper. There were dozens of questions in her mind. Some about the inn and others still about what might happen when she and Simon were alone in that chamber now that they were married. Staring into the hearth, the low fire burning in the grate, she was absorbed in her own thoughts. When she felt something touch her arm, she let out a soft shriek and whirled, ready to defend herself. But immediately, her fears were allayed. It was Simon.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he offered. “This is not an ideal location to begin one’s married life. I wish the circumstances were more suitable.”

“I am happy to begin my married life wherever you are,” she replied. And it was true. They’d known one another but hours. And yet in those hours, he’d shown himself to be kind, brave, forward thinking and incredibly considerate. He was, if she’d ever given thought to marriage before, exactly the kind of husband she would have hoped for.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.